Should I take this offer or is it shady? Please help!!!!!

P

punkrocker

New member
Ok so this guy sent me this message on myspace claiming all I have to do is send him a demo of my band with contact info on it and he'll pass it on to some labels. Does this seem shady? Please advise. Here is the conversation (read from bottom to top):

just send me one and i will make as many copies as i need. send your contact info with it so they can get in touch with you. and what record labels would you like to get signed on with. A&M records, sony music, rhino records, name it and i can probably get it. well get back to me soon.

----------------- Original Message -----------------
From: The Medication (208500452)
To: Brad
Date: Mar 5, 2009 10:40 PM
Subject: RE: business offer


How many CD's do you need? I'll talk with the other band members.

----------------- Original Message -----------------
From: Brad (197421459)
To: The Medication
Date: Mar 5, 2009 6:51 PM
Subject: RE: business offer



nothing at all. just don't forget me when you make it big. i mean i don't want any money or anything just remember my name. thats all. i will put your name out and push it for a while. if thats cool with you. hopefully you understand that i can't give out phone numbers. but if you can send me a demo cd i will defintly pass it to the right people. if you are interested send to (he puts his address here). well let me know if you are interested. hope to hear from you soon
----------------- Original Message -----------------
From: The Medication (208500452)
To: Brad
Date: Mar 5, 2009 8:20 PM
Subject: RE: business offer


how much would it cost for you to put us in touch with your contacts?

----------------- Original Message -----------------
From: Brad (197421459)
To: The Medication
Date: Mar 5, 2009 6:13 PM
Subject: RE: business offer


its all good. just thought i would offer. if you don't mind though i would still like to put you name out there. i was being completely honest when i said i though you had raw talent and i really think you could go somewhere

----------------- Original Message -----------------
From: The Medication (208500452)
To: Brad
Date: Mar 5, 2009 6:08 PM
Subject: RE: business offer


yeah were not interested in buying songs. we prefer writing them.

----------------- Original Message -----------------
From: Brad (197421459)
To: The Medication
Date: Mar 5, 2009 3:31 PM
Subject: RE: business offer


i am not claiming to be anyone famous or anything of that nature. but i am claiming to know some valuable people. all the songs i write and sell all sold with all rights. including copy rights and credit rights. whom ever i sell my music to gets credit for writing it as well. i can send you some samples of my matieral to look at and review but it will not be complete songs just portions of them until we come to some sort of mutual agreement. in other word i will only send you whole songs if you send me something saying that you will not use unless i release it to your band. and that you will not chop up my material and make it something different. and i can assure you that this is not spam of any sort. i am not tryin to make any money off you. i am not trying to sell you any crap. just a shot at making it big.

----------------- Original Message -----------------
From: The Medication (208500452)
To: Brad
Date: Mar 5, 2009 5:01 PM
Subject: RE: business offer


To make sure that your not spamming us, please provide a reputable place where we can verify your credentials.

----------------- Original Message -----------------
From: Brad (197421459)
To: The Medication
Date: Mar 5, 2009 2:46 PM
Subject: business offer


i have an offer for your band. i am a song writer i have writen songs for a few major names. and i see something in your group. raw talent. i would like to write a couple of songs for your band and put your name out there. if you are interested please get in touch with me via myspace.
hope to hear from you soon
 
It certainly sounds shady to me.

I would ignore it.

However, it would be interesting to see how much information you could get from him. For example, you might say that you are interested, but would he be so kind as to send you a letter summarising what he's offering, what he would expect in return and where you could get in contact with him.

If he's reputable he should have no qualms about responding.
 
It sounded merely shady, until I read this part:

"...whom ever i sell my music to gets credit for writing it as well..."

Then it pegged my BS meter.
 
So he's offering you something pretty decent (contacts at major record labels) in exchange for nothing tangible ("remember me when you make it big") despite the fact that he doesn't even know you?

That, and he doesn't bother with decent spelling and punctuation in business correspondence?

I'd be pretty suspicious.
 
Thanks everyone for all of the replies! Here is what I'm thinking. What if I make a CD but just put on like :30-1:00 clips off the songs instead of the whole things? Would that cover me? Or should I just bag this whole thing?
 
YOu know, a re-read, and I thought that, if you make sure your material you send to him is copyrighted AND registered with the CR office, what do you have to lose? I would think the worst that could happen is someone hits with your (copyrighted) song, and you get to sue them for damages. I would think that would be a pretty air-tight case and a decent attorney would be happy to take it.
 
punkrocker said:
----------------- Original Message -----------------
From: Brad (197421459)
To: The Medication
Date: Mar 5, 2009 3:31 PM
Subject: RE: business offer


i am not claiming to be anyone famous or anything of that nature. but i am claiming to know some valuable people. all the songs i write and sell all sold with all rights. including copy rights and credit rights. whom ever i sell my music to gets credit for writing it as well. i can send you some samples of my matieral to look at and review but it will not be complete songs just portions of them until we come to some sort of mutual agreement. in other word i will only send you whole songs if you send me something saying that you will not use unless i release it to your band. and that you will not chop up my material and make it something different. and i can assure you that this is not spam of any sort. i am not tryin to make any money off you. i am not trying to sell you any crap. just a shot at making it big.
Click to expand...

Not necessarily saying that this is your case, but I have dealt with this line before. Essentially it's a sales pitch to try and get some of his songs placed with your band, so that he can build up his writing credits. He's covering his tracks by saying that he has sold all his rights away, so that there is no verifiable work that you can check, with any recognizable names that can be referenced. It's a trick producer's use a lot to try and get artist to record with them.

On the other hand, if you have taken the time to protect your music, there is very little he can do with it (except maybe push that he wrote your songs and try to use it as a bargaining chip to get a publishing deal) Worst case scenario, you get rich off a lawsuit instead of a hit album...but at least someone heard your music!:)
 
Ok so up until this point I was thinking spam all the way. But now this guy has said that I don't have to send him a CD if I don't want to and he'll just use our myspace link. Do I have anything to lose? Conversation:



if that is how you would like to do it that is fine with me. i just think if i had a demo it would look better on your part. but how ever you want to do this is fine with me. and if the opportunity was to present itself would you be interested in traveling out of state to play say for example new orleans or memphis possibly las vegas. but yeah how ever you are interested in going about this is up to you.
----------------- Original Message -----------------
Froif that m: The Medication (208500452)
To: Brad
Date: Mar 6, 2009 11:28 AM
Subject: RE: business offer


Before we do this I have a question. Why can you not just use our myspace link and give that out instead?
 
Here's my thoughts:

He wants to write songs for you - innocent enough. Lots of songwriters out there trying to get their material into the hands of performing artists.

He says he sells all rights to his songs to major acts. This doesn't seem right to me. No one is stupid enough to sell their rights away.

He should have no problem sending you demos of his songs for your consideration, I don't know why he wants to send 30 sec clips. If he wrote the song, he owns the copyright (until he's stupid enough to sell it). Sending demos (Full demos) to bands is how a songwriter gets their songs cut by a performing artist.

Why can't this guy give you references?? If his songs were cut by major acts, he should be proud of that and be able to tell you upfront.

If he genuinely can bring attention to your band, he can do so with your myspce account. Everyone has access to the internet these days. He's almost guaranteeing getting you signed to major label, yet he has no credentials.

My guess is this guy doesn't understand the business and is probably exaggerating his accomplishments.

Tell him to send people to your myspace page, if they like what they see, then they can contact him or you.

just my opinion.
 
Just the way his messages are written reeks of shadiness!

No introduction, no references, no REAL clear message of what he wants do do, or how the relationship would work = avoid like the plague...
 
Yeah, I gotta agree with Zuul.

This smells dodgy to me. I can see nothing but possible complications from it. I'd say avoid this guy! However, if you do wanna get involved just to see where it takes you, just make sure all your songs are sufficiently protected.

Good Luck. I'm excited for you :D
 
We get messages from weirdos like this all the time. Often it's too much trouble to figure out what they're even asking.

Here's how you play it (not this time but next time):

Say for deals like this you prefer to have him deal directly with your manager. Then give him another band member's phone number, and have them work it out. The 'manager' can ask a million questions without being a dick.

But IMHO this guy is a nigerian.
 
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